Even though the possibility of a nationals sweep crossed her mind, UnitedHealthcare’s Alison Powers didn’t want to jinx herself by talking about it.

But after she crossed the line with enough time to celebrate, the 34-year-old former pro downhill skier was able to put superstition aside. Powers won consecutive national titles in the criterium, road race, and time trial this year, achieving something no other American cyclist has ever done.

Bicycling talked to Powers about her magical weekend in Chattanooga, racing the Giro Rosa, and her transition to road racing after an injury ended her 20-year ski career prematurely.

Bicycling: You made history last month. Has it sunk in yet?
Alison Powers: I felt amazing and overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe that it had happened. I kind of felt like a hoarder, like, I just won again, uh oh! We executed the teamwork perfectly. I crossed the line first, but it was a whole team effort. Just to see everyone’s face and how happy they were. It makes it so much fun and so rewarding.

It feels really good to be home in Colorado. I was able to go for a mountain bike ride. It was nice to get away from all of it. I know that sounds weird, but it was just so much, it’s nice to come home, chill out, and let it all sink in. Between winning and getting to do all the cool things like podiums and interviews, getting the car and donating it to Jackie, it was really an emotional day.

Editor’s Note: Winners of the men’s and women’s US Pro National Road Races were awarded a one-year loan on a Volkswagen GTI. Powers donated the car to teammate Jackie Crowell, who was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer in October 2013.

When did the team decide to donate the car to Jackie?
We were in the team bus at Tour of the Gila and Mara [Abbott] read that the winner of the road race would get a new car. She thought it would be a good idea to donate it to Jackie and we all agreed.

It must have been really hard for Jackie to sign with this awesome new women’s team and then right away to find out that you have brain cancer. After that, the team rallied around her. UnitedHeathcare is doing a really good job helping Jackie with what she’s going through.

What’s next for you this season?
It’s full gas from here on out. We have three days of crit racing at Tulsa Tough, then the old Nature Valley, now called the North Star Grand Prix. After that, we have two weeks off and then it’s off to Italy for the Giro Rosa.

You raced the Giro for the first time back in 2007 with Colavita-Sutter Home. Excited to be back at that race again?
It’s been a long time. Back then it was eight days and I think now it’s 10 days of racing so that will be a new experience for me.

I’m really excited that the pressure is not on my shoulders. It’s on Mara. Yes, I need to be there to help her on the flat stages and get her to the base of the climbs. But other than that, if I come in a little tired, or I don’t have a good day I can still do my best to be helpful and just finish.

A stage win would be a bonus, but for me, my goal is to help Mara get that pink leader’s jersey. 100 percent.

Going into the biggest women’s stage race on the calendar with former pro racer Rachel Heal as one of your team directors must be advantageous. What’s she like as a DS?
The coolest thing is that she knows women’s racing really well, but also UnitedHealthcare has been taking her to a lot of the men’s races to direct. So her knowledge of racing and tactics and how to execute is really good. She’s very descriptive. In our team meetings, everyone knows exactly what their job is. That’s cool, because from there, everyone does that job. That’s why we’ve had success, because everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to.

In the national road race, the team’s strategy seemed to work flawlessly despite UHC having just three riders.
Yes, exactly. We knew we had to be smart. Our strengths were on the climbs with Katie [Hall] and Mara. If I was in a group that caught up to the climbers, then it was my turn to go. Initially, I thought Tayler [Wiles from Specialized-lululemon] and Katie were going to win [when they were in a break together]. Katie was super smart and sat on Tayler. That frustrated the hell out of Tayler and then it was my turn to counterattack. I went full gas and that was that. It worked out perfectly.

I honestly didn’t think I would win because of all the good luck I’d been having recently, but I guess it continues!

After your victory in Chattanooga, you told press you came to the starting gate confident you could take the win. Besides getting the victory at Amgen Tour of California Time Trial early that month, how did you know?
At home I did a training race and I was like, ‘Oh wow. I’m doing really well.’ I also had a really good time trial in Boulder. I took a day off and I was done. I didn’t need to train hard, I didn’t need to do anything else, all I needed to do when I got to Chattanooga was execute. I really felt like I was going to win. I know that’s a weird thing to say, but that’s just how it is.

The time trial at nationals felt really good. The nice thing was the course was in the same place as last year and at that time I made some mistakes. I knew in order to go faster I needed to not start so hard. I needed to carry my speed up the little rollers. [UHC team director Mike] Tamayo helped me. We looked at the course and figured out the effort I needed. We came up with a solid plan for race day. All I needed to focus on was executing the exact plan. I had a lot of confidence that it was going to work. At the first turn around he yelled to me that I was already ahead, and I wasn’t going hard yet.

You were also helping other racers over the weekend. As the owner of Alp Cycles Coaching, what was it like racing nationals with some of the athletes you train?
I had two athletes, Raquel Miller and Jen Whalen, in the road race with me. We also had Optum’s Maura Kinsella who is coached by Shawn Heidgen, my co-coach.

So they came up to my hotel and we talked about the road race, where to save energy, where to go hard and where to stay at the front. I think that helps me as well.

I think they like it because I say, ‘You need to come up and say hi to me. If you don’t say hi to me you’re not close enough to the front.’ It makes them race better too. I really enjoy teaching. I can’t help myself. Coaching makes me feel good.

In the road race, you looked fearless on the descent off of Lookout Mountain. You must channel your skiing skills on the bike.
Yes, I do. The nice thing growing up as a ski racer is that you consistently go 50–70 miles an hour, so descending 40 miles an hour doesn’t feel scary at all. That can be a bad thing sometimes because I’ve crashed myself before [laughs].

I think it’s because I look at the lines through the corners a little differently than most people because of my ski background, which makes it even harder for people to stay on my wheel. They’re like, “What is she doing? Where is she going? Oh my gosh, she just got three bike lengths on me.”

Powers was all smiles as she completed her sweep of national titles with the road race. (Jonathan Devich/UnitedHealthcare)

You started downhill skiing at a young age and competed until you were 24 years old. How did you get into it?
It was something my family did. My parents were ski patrollers. They put my sister and me into a ski race program to help us learn how to ski. I raced until I was 24, so almost 20 years.

Growing up, my goal was to compete in the Olympics, you know, like most every little kid. I was fortunate enough to be on the US Ski Team and very much felt like I was on my way to accomplishing my Olympic goal. In 2001, I qualified for the World Championships, which was awesome. A week later, I shattered my kneecap and it was the beginning of the end of my ski-racing career.

What was it like returning to the sport after that?
When I came back from my knee injury, we would drive up these big mountain passes in Italy. I’d look out the window and instead of wanting to ski, I wanted to ride my bike on the passes.

And that’s when you knew?
Yeah, after my injury, I got afraid. I was just too afraid. It’s called “the fear.” Once you get the fear, you can’t ski race anymore because you won’t go fast again. At that point, I realized I had enough of ski racing and quit in January of 2004.

When I decide to start riding, it was a super easy transition because I was already mountain biking as a teenager in the summer. However, mountain biking hurt my knee, so I got a road bike and the first time on my road bike I loved it. I never wanted to mountain bike again. I found it really freeing.

After just three years, you made it to the Giro. Would you describe your rise in the sport of cycling as a quick one?
I had a lot of success early on. When I first started my goal was the world championships and to race the women’s Giro. The Olympics were dangling in 2008. I went to Europe and tried to make the Olympics. It was awful. I hated it. I was so lonely and I didn’t enjoy it. I needed a reality check. I was like, “Wait a second. Why did I start bike racing? To race the World Championships and the Giro and to have fun.” Okay, check, check, but the fun’s not happening and I never started to make the Olympics.

At the end of 2008, I took a step back and I didn’t go back to Europe. I raced in the US and had a lot of fun. But that’s why I haven’t gone to Worlds since then, I was getting beat by people who were racing in Europe.

Because of where you are now in your career, would you ever want to try your hand in Europe again? I wondered that last year and started to think that I was ready to go back again. That’s why I went back with the National team in September, and I still didn’t like it. The racing is awesome, but the life off the bike I don’t care for.

Your wins mean you’re going to the World Championships in Spain this year. Was that something you’d considered as a possibility before nationals?
This means I don’t really have a choice now! It was a little off my radar because I didn’t have a spot. I didn’t go to Pan-Ams and I didn’t have an automatic spot, so the only way I was going to go to Worlds was if I won nationals.

So now I’m going and the team is going (for the team time trial). I won’t just be me and I won’t be lonely. Everyone will be there and it will seem like a normal race.

Will you change your training at all to build up to it?
I’m pacing myself. When I throw too much on something I get a little anxious and inside my own head, so I am going to try and have that not happen. I want to get through June, get through the Giro, then Leadville 100, and then focus on worlds.

You mentioned the Leadville 100 mountain race. Have you ever put any thought into focusing on the cyclocross or mountain bike circuits?
I tried. I used to mountain bike when I first started. And I tried mountain biking when I was on Team Type 1. I did a little a little bit of both and went to mountain bike nationals. The fitness and the training is really different. As a roadie, when you’re riding the pavement all the time it’s really easy to lose your mountain bike handling skills. The courses are getting more and more technical. I find if you don’t have those skills, it doesn’t matter what kind of fitness you have, you’re not going to go fast.

So no plans to pull off a Marianne Vos-style domination of disciplines?
[Laughs] I’m quite happy with what I have. Riding my mountain bike and ’cross bike as a fun hobby is fine with me.